Product applicators are designed to deliver a quantity of product from an application surface to a target surface. By “application surface” we mean the part of the applicator that is designed to be loaded with product for transferring to a target surface, such as skin or hair. At a minimum, a product applicator comprises an application surface and structure that connects the application surface to a handle that is used to grasp and manipulate the applicator. Throughout the specification “proximal end” of an applicator refers to the portion near the handle and “distal end” refers the portion where the application surface is located. Throughout the specification, “multi-applicator” or “multi-applicator system” or “multi-applicator package” or the like, refer to a consumer product package that has at least two separate product applicators (not just two separate application surfaces, as we sometimes find on a single product applicator). Such systems, though inferior to that described herein, are known.
For example, there are systems comprising an elongated container, the container having two openings, one at either end of the container. A separate applicator is disposed in each opening. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,858. The container may be divided, so that each applicator is in a separate reservoir or there may be only one reservoir, which each brush enters from opposing sides (as in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,858). Each applicator comprises a handle that serves as a closure for its respective opening. With multiple applicators and handles protruding from different portions of the container and in different directions, the applicator system is significantly larger than a single applicator system of comparable product volume. Thus, unlike the present invention, this kind of multi-applicator system features more than one applicator handle and an oversized package. Furthermore, filling and capping a double ended container are more complicated and more costly than filling a container with a single opening and capping it with a multi-applicator according to the present invention.
Another example of an inferior multi-applicator system comprises a central, elongated, double ended applicator. A separate container is associated with each applicator. A central portion of the double ended applicator acts as two closures, one for each container. This design suffers from some of the same drawbacks as that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,858, namely, the applicator system is significantly larger than a single applicator system of comparable product volume. This system also requires a custom made double ended applicator and the use of two separate containers. Thus, unlike the present invention, a feature of this kind of multi-applicator system is presence of more than one container, a custom double ended applicator and an oversized package. Furthermore, securing a double ended applicator/closure to two containers is more complicated and more costly than securing the multi-applicator of the present invention to a single container.
Yet another type of inferior multi-applicator system comprises what are essentially, two complete single applicator systems attached end to end. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,742 comprises a first reservoir associated with a first applicator and handle and a second reservoir associated with a second applicator and handle. The two sub-units are articulated end to end. Here again, there are two separate reservoirs, two handle structures and a package that does not resemble the more common single applicator system, with which cosmetic product users are familiar.
The present invention will focus on the type of applicator that comprises a surface that must be immersed in a reservoir of product before the product can be applied. We call these “immersion-type applicators”. In use, an immersion-type applicator is immersed in the product reservoir and then physically separated from the reservoir to deliver the product. A different type of applicator has a reservoir of product inside the applicator. Before applying product with this type of “reservoir-applicator”, the product must be conveyed from the reservoir to an exit orifice that opens onto an exterior surface of the applicator. The applicator surface is never physically separated from the reservoir. One example of a this type of applicator in a multi-applicator system is a multi-color ball point pen. The pen houses multiple ink reservoirs, each attached to an application surface i.e. a ball point. Typically, a user must select a color ink by depressing one of several buttons, which causes the ball point of the selected color to extend out of the pen. Unlike the present invention, the ball point is never immersed in the reservoir and is never separated from the reservoir. In the personal care and cosmetics fields, reservoir-applicators do not have all of the advantages of a separable, “immersion-type applicator”. For example, reservoir-applicators are generally less efficient at applying large amounts of product to extended surface areas; they generally hold less product for a given size package; they cannot be used with more viscous products that don't flow easily; etc. Thus, a need remains in the personal care field for a single handled, single container, immersion-type multi-applicator package.
One of the features of the present invention, that solves some of the problems in the prior art, is the placement of the openings in the container, a placement that puts the applicators in close proximity to each other and that makes the applicators parallel to each other. By “parallel applicators” we mean that all of the distal ends are side by side and all of the proximal ends are side by side where they can articulate with a single handle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,858 shows parallel applicators whose distal ends are side by side, but not their proximal ends. The arrangement of applicators in '858 patent could be called anti-parallel and the present invention distinguishes over this type of arrangement.